The ultimate breakfast burrito

Breakfast Burrito:
tortillas
chao cheese
condiment of choice (salsa, hot sauce, ketchup)
cilantro

Stir-fry Hashbrowns:
4-5 leaves of chopped kale
2 small potatoes grated
1 vegan sausage slice/chopped
2 tbsp vegan margarine
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
8 stalks of asparagus
2 cloves garlic
1 onion chopped

Melt the margarine in a pan, and add the onion. Cook until translucent.
Add potato, asparagus and sausage, cook until the potato softens. Add kale, salt and pepper, cook until the kale wilts, stirring continuously.

Not so Eggs, Tempeh:
2 packages of tempeh, finely chopped or processed using food processor.
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp ground sage
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp water
3 tbsp milk
2 tsp yellow or dijon mustard
2-3 tbsp salsa
1-2 dashes of smoked black salt (optional)

Take one tortilla, half slice of chao cheese and distribute it onto half of the tortilla.  Microwave for 30 seconds.  Alternatively you could put it in the oven on broil for 3-4 minutes, until cheese is melted.
Take out of microwave or oven and spread salsa, ketchup or hot sauce or other desired sauce onto one side of the tortilla.  Place about 1/4 cup of scrambled tempeh on the burrito, then 1/4 cup of the hashbrowns.  Use 5-6 cilantro leaves to top it off, before rolling it up.  Smother it in salsa or other condiment of your choice!

Throw together dinner

My husband made this salad yesterday, and it was amazing.  We had some mixed salad from the CSA we get from, so it was red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce and rucola.   He made up the salad dressing, it somewhat reminded me of a thai peanut/thousand island... I'm not sure but it was impressive, and took him less than 5 minutes to throw together.


Tangy Thai Cashew Dressing
1/3 cup of cashews
2 tsp olive oil
dash of zesty spice (salt alternative)
1/4 of water
1-2 tbsp of sesame seeds
1 tsp of agave
1 tsp of sriracha
dash of thai peanut dressing
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Blend in a vitamix, or other blender :)
These ingredients may need to be adjusted a bit, my husband likes to
explain ingredients by the 'dash' of something or 'handful'
I saw him put some of the ingredients in, so these are my best estimates
otherwise you can follow his advise and put 2 handfuls of cashews
and a dash of everything else... and just enough water to help it blend.
It's a very creamy and rich dressing, definitely a new favorite :)


Potatoes and Asparagus
2 russet potatoes peeled and cubed
1 bunch of asparagus roughly chopped
1-2 tbsp of oil
3 dashes garlic powder
3 dashes onion powder
4-5 dashes black pepper
2 dashes of salt

Bake on 350 F, for 45 minutes.  

Green Mania

Green Mania

2 baby bok choy

1 bunch of kale or other dark leafy greens

1 bunch of asparagus

1 yellow pepper

1/2 tsp lemon zest

juice of half of a lemon

juice of 1/4 of an orange

1 tsp fresh sage

1 tsp fresh oregano

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp oil

2 garlic cloves

1 inch ginger

1/2 -1 tsp salt

1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)

At bare minimum, add the salt, balsamic and lemon zest... and for added flavor add the garlic and ginger.  

Fry the garlic in oil along with the stems of the leafy greens.  Add the ginger and asparagus.  When the asparagus becomes bright green add the yellow pepper and the rest of the seasonings and vinegar.  Add the leafy greens, when the leaves become just wilted, add the fresh herbs, lemon and orange juice-- if using.  

Serve :)

The simple dinner

I really didn't feel like putting much effort into cooking yesterday, so this was a minimalist effort kind of throw-together.

Steamed Asparagus and Radicchio
1 package of asparagus chopped in 2 inch pieces
1/2 medium radicchio roughly sliced

Yes, radicchio is bitter especially cooked with only water, but I think it's important to strengthen our tolerance for bitterness in our meals :)
Steam for 5-10 minutes, just before wilting point of radicchio.

Chopped Greens
3/4 bunch of red lettuce chopped/ripped into bite size pieces

as simple as that, the table needed something fresh looking :)

Seasoned Mixed Potato Rounds
7 small purple tomatoes roughly sliced
1 large sweet potato roughly cubed
1 large yam roughly cubed
2 tsp of oil
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp sage

Preheat oven at 375 F. Mix all of the chopped potatoes in a bowl add the owl and seasonings and mix.  Place in a pan or a baking dish, and bake for 30 minutes.  Take potatoes out, stir well and put them back in the oven for another 30 minutes.

Scrambled Chorizo in Tomato Sauce  
1/2 cup of chorizo
1 can tri- bean mix
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/4-1/2 cup of water
1/4 tsp of basil
1/2 cup of sliced cabbage

Mix all ingredients together in a pot.  simmer until cabbage softens.


I invited our friend to dinner, who brought along chips and salsa, which made a perfect contribution to the meal :)

I took equal servings of salad, vegetables, potatoes and chorizo and it was the best all mixed together with a spoonful of salsa and a couple chips :)

Ultimate Hollandaise Veggie Toss

I went to a potluck yesterday, as I am the only vegan that I know at my work/school I had to choose something that could work even if it was the only thing that I could eat.  I thought about bringing dessert too, I just didn't have that much time to do it as well.

I had a bunch of veggies in the fridge, but I wanted a really nice sauce to go along.

I wanted the sauce to remind me of a hollandaise sauce.

Surprisingly I did a really good job at getting that 'eggy' flavor and consistency.  Not quite sure how I did it, but the interesting this was, this sauce could also be made with a little less liquid and really tastes reminds me of deviled eggs! It would be interesting in future recipes to play with this recipe a little more.. and combine it with some kind of a tofu recipe to actually make vegan deviled eggs!! It would certainly be a fun experiment.

Ultimate Hollandaise Veggie Toss:
Serves 8-10

1 small head of broccoli chopped
1 bunch of kale chopped
1 small head of cauliflower chopped
1/3 head of purple cabbage chopped
3 carrots chopped
1 bunch of asparagus chopped

1/3 cup of tahini
1/4 cup of oil
1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
Juice of 1 1/2 lemons
1tbsp of 1/4 tsp of agave
1/2 tsp of salt
1 tsp of tapioca starch
1/2 tsp of mustard or powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp of broth powder
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp of black pepper
1-2 tbsp of smoked paprika
1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper
1 tbsp of all purpose herbs

Steam the asparagus, carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli together in a pot until a bit softer but still with a crunch. Put steamed veggies in a big bowl to stir.  Then steam kale for a minute, add to the other vegetables.  Steam the cabbage for a very short time, 1-2 minutes, it shouldn't lose it's dark purple color. Let the cabbage cool a bit before blending it with the other vegetables so it doesn't bleed its color onto them.

Whip the rest of the ingredients together, if it's looking anything but creamy, keep whipping :)

If it's still too bitter, you can always add more agave, salt, and apple cider vinegar.
If it doesn't have enough flavor, you can always add more smoked paprika, salt, mixed herbs and
cayenne.

mix the sauce with the veggies, and serve hot!

Unfortunately a couple hours had past before it was served at the potluck and it didn't hold up as well. I may have been overly judgmental of it, because I was very disappointed, but someone did still come up to me and complimented me on the dish... so it's possible that it was fine but I was too critical of it.
I will find out today, if chilling before serving would have improved it.  Some dishes are really incredible once chilled, so I am crossing my fingers on this one! I will let you know as soon as I eat this for lunch if chilling it prior is the best method for this guy.

Also, the hosts were so gracious and made the two main dishes vegan--- I'm pretty sure for me, because I'm the only vegan I know in that circle.  Amazing, it's these small -- to me big-- acts that really touch the heart!

Best!!

Esther